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A town in Germany has sacked Santa Claus over alleged links to a far-Right movement.

Peter Mück has dressed as Santa and distributed sweets to children at the annual Christmas market in the Bavarian town of Mühldorf for 30 years.

But this year the Christmas market opened without him after the mayor of Mühldorf announced that he had been fired.

Mr Mück was dismissed over comments he wrote on Facebook in support of a post by the far-Right “Identitarian Movement”, which campaigns against immigration and Islam, and has been accused of open racism.

“I explained to him that this movement, in my view, does not respect the equality and dignity of all people, or our democratic values, and that this attitude was not compatible with the work of portraying Santa Claus,” Marianne Zollner, the mayor of Mühldorf, said.

Ms Zollner said that Mr Mück reacted “dismissively”. He has since denied that he supports the Identitarian Movement.

The row centres on comments Mr Mück wrote on Facebook condemning child marriage. He posted a comment in support of a Facebook picture of an Identitarian campaign in which posters were handed out bearing the slogan “Child marriage = child abuse”.

The prevalence of existing child marriages among many of the refugees admitted to Germany last year has become a highly charged political issue.

Mr Mück claims he was unaware of the group’s background when he posted the comment.

The movement has been placed under surveillance by German domestic intelligence over concerns about its white supremacist rhetoric.

“I should have been better informed about the Identitarian Movement, but I have nothing to do with them,” Mr Mück wrote on Facebook.“I have never acted in thought, word or deed against the free democratic constitution.”

He insisted he had only supported the group’s campaign against child marriage, “the core message of which is correct and justifiable for me”.

Since the sacking, the mayor has been subjected to death threats from far-Right blogs which accuse her of protecting paedophiles.

Mr Mück has said he would not return as Santa even if he were reinstated, for fear he would be seen as “the Nazi Father Christmas”.